Manage your subscription

Pickled evidence for evolution

By Jessica Griggs

IF A snake is a reptile and an eel is a fish, why do they look so similar? This was one of the questions that fascinated Charles Darwin as he wrote On the Origin of Species, published 150 years ago next week. In the ensuing years, scientists have continued exploring the questions that he raised. The answer to this particular puzzle lies in the versatile form shared by snakes and eels – the long, sleek body that enables eels to glide through the water and snakes to slither through grassland, jungle or across sand.